Stalker's sentence on hold after TV show's claims

Mark Russell

A judge has been forced to delay the sentencing of a stalker - who his victim believed planned to torture, rape and kill her - after the Today Tonight television program highlighted the case on Monday night.

County Court judge Felicity Hampel planned to sentence David Smith, 40, from Torquay today until she was told he had been threatened by other prisoners in the Melbourne Remand Centre after the program was aired and his photograph shown.

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Mr Danos said the program had wrongly claimed Smith's victim had taken out an apprehended violence order against him before he committed his crimes. The order was in fact taken out after Smith had been arrested and was in custody.

Judge Hampel said she had to decide if Smith deserved a reduced sentence now that he had been the subject of threats and been placed in protection, which could be viewed as an added punishment.

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Smith would be kept away from the mainstream prison population and spend up to 23 hours a day in his cell.

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Smith has pleaded guilty to one count each of burglary, criminal damage and stalking.

His victim, known as Kate, was interviewed by Today Tonight for a story questioning whether AVOs protected women.

Kate had been visiting her dying grandmother in Wodonga when Smith, who had been dating her mother, broke into her apartment on May 25 and lay in wait for her for 14 hours.

While he waited, Smith went on a rampage of destruction.

"There was graffiti on the walls, photos of me had been smashed, and cigarette butts put out on (photos of) my face. There were tarot cards left out - death and justice sitting there for me on my dresser," Kate told the program.

Inside my lounge room he had had some restraints, a funnel and a soldering iron to torture me.

"The path of destruction was just horrific - animalistic.

"He had consumed quite a lot of beer cans because they were thrown everywhere in my house. He had urinated inside my wardrobe; he'd pulled all of my clothes out, all of my drawers they were all over the floor - he'd urinated all over those. He'd used my underwear as toilet paper, there was faeces everywhere.

"Inside my lounge room he had had some restraints, a funnel and a soldering iron to torture me."

Smith sent Kate an SMS text message the day after the attack which said, "I hope you like what I have done with the place. It only took me 14 hours.

"That was going to happen to you too. Lucky for you I got tired of waiting.

"I guess it just wasn't in the cards for you to die last night."

Police later found a bag filled with tools including a crow bar, drill, soldering iron, cable ties and a knife that Smith had left at the property.